The Protector
by bncourt12
Summary: Will Gorski isn't used to being protected, but he welcomes the change.


Will Gorski held the mug underneath his nose and took in a deep breath, letting the rich smell of the black coffee give him the faint promise of a caffeine buzz. He took a small sip, savoring the hot, bold taste, and leaned against his kitchen counter to begin his early morning ritual: scanning the minds of his cluster.

The war with BPO ended months ago, and life was usually calm and peaceful these days since they were no longer on the run, but Will and his cluster still found it hard to let some habits die.

Nomi still insisted a text from Amanita if she went out in public by herself, freaking out a bit if her wife took just a bit too long to check in. Capheus and Lito, unused to anyone visiting them unless they or someone else was in trouble, still braced themselves for bad news at times whenever one of them appeared in Kenya or Mexico. Wolfgang and Sun were still as distrustful of people as ever, bouts of panic plagued Riley, and Will...

Well, he was so used to being his cluster's protector. During the war, he'd gotten so used to scanning each of their minds for a few, quick seconds after he woke each morning and before he slept each night, always on the look out for danger. It was now ingrained in him to do so, a reflex. It just felt wrong to stop.

His cluster didn't mind his habitual check-ins; in fact, each of them made it a point to send him soft bursts of love or happiness whenever they noticed his mind brushing up against theirs.

Well, all except one.

"Fuck off and go to sleep, cop," was usually Wolfgang's response to his nightly visits.

Will never took offense, though, since he could feel his cluster-mate's buried affection each time. The other man never pushed him out of his mind and didn't block his visits either.

Sometimes, when Will felt vulnerable to the point of hiding in his soft hoodies and curling away from other people's touch - usually after long and rough work days - Wolfgang would even kiss him soft and slow, holding him firmly in his arms. The German's protective, soft touches reduced Will to a trembling mess every time.

He took another cautious sip of his coffee, aching to hold Riley in his arms. She'd been working a gig in New York for the past week, and while proud of her, he missed her like he imagined he would miss air.

"A few days isn't so long." He heard the uplifting tone and smiled. Capheus. He felt a flash of the African heat weighing him down. "She will be back soon. But for now your coffee is very good, yes?"

He chuckled and silently agreed, sharing the taste with the Kenyan.

Will scanned the minds of his other cluster-mates for a few seconds before joining his favorite politician. He found himself sitting in a soft chair on the other side of a mahogany desk, watching Capheus as he read a printed document before him. His day was just getting started while Capheus's day at the office was ending soon, but Will saw the other man drinking his own coffee.

Must've needed a pick-me-up, Will thought, noticing the man's tired eyes. The Kenyan still managed to keep his near endless positivity, though.

"But of course," Capheus said in response to his silent observation, smiling. "It is a beautiful day, no? There is so much to appreciate."

Will grinned back at him, marveling at how relaxed the other man always made him feel.

"You are going to work soon, though, yes? Please be careful," Capheus said.

Will nodded and said, "I'll be careful," but in the face of the man's worry, he couldn't help but feel ... offbeat.

With the others always far from danger these days, Will never really had to worry about them. He soon realized, however, that his cluster did worry. Constantly. About him.

Ever since he got his job back with the CPD, they worried and fussed over him, which was, to his mind, absolutely bizarre.

Before he met his cluster he'd never had people worry about him as soon as he put on his blue uniform, nor whenever he and Diego chased some men down crowded Chicago streets. Sure, before his cluster, he had people care about him: his dad, Diego, a couple girlfriends.

But their care paled in comparison to his cluster's.

The end of a recent, brutal shift came to mind, where Will had been so exhausted the whole cluster came to take care of him.

#

"Will, you good getting home, man? I can drive you to your place," Diego said.

Will shook his head. He appreciated the offer, but his friend looked about as good as he felt - and he felt like death was breathing on his neck.

"No, I'll be fine. Just drive safe, alright?" Will said.

Diego nodded, not even able to hide his relief at his offer being declined. "Alright. See you Monday."

He gave Will a friendly slap on the back and walked away. When he was gone, Will looked up at the pitch black sky pondered whether to just sleep on the bench nearby, right in front of the station.

In fact, the more he looked at the hard, uncomfortable bench, the more it tempted Will into just laying on it and passing out for an entire week.

Maybe just for ten minutes, he thought. That would rejuvenate him enough to make his half-hour commute home, he was sure.

Before he could even take a step forward, however, his cluster finally intervened. Wolfgang appeared before him after hours of silence as if he were called, and this time Will, as tired as he was, knew he couldn't push any of them away, let alone the hard-headed German.

The other man didn't waste time. He clenched onto Will's arm and neck, pulled him down the street, and steered him toward the subway.

"You're not sleeping on a fucking bench," Wolfgang said, still pulling him along. "We're getting you home."

Will sighed but knew better than to argue, so he allowed the other man to pull him along the sidewalk and down the steps to the subway.

The whole cluster appeared around him as he sat down to wait for the next train, forming a tight, protective circle. He hunched forward and put his face in his hands.

It had been a long day, and he knew he'd soon be seeing that dead boy and the rest of those murdered people in his nightmares. If it weren't for his utter exhaustion, he knew he'd be curled up into a ball on his bed as soon as he got home, unable to do anything but accept the comfort his cluster would come to give him.

Will also couldn't help but feel twitchy, on edge. The florescent lights stung his eyes, his uniform felt stiff and intolerable, and the people were too close and too loud.

Everything was loud. He wanted his hoodie and his bed, where everything was soft, quiet, safe. He flinched as someone a few feet away from him let out a boisterous laugh into her cellphone.

"Shhh," Kala murmured, sitting next to him on the bench. He felt her hand slide into his as she pressed her body into the side of his. "Everything is alright. You are just very tired, and your mind is sensitive after all the stress it went through."

He felt someone else press up against his other side and squeeze his forearm gently. "Your train is almost here, too." Nomi. "Just two more minutes."

Will sighed again and nodded, straightening his back and opening his eyes. In the harsh light, he managed to see Sun and Capheus for a few seconds, but his eyes closed soon after they opened once a pair of strong, talented fingers touched his temples.

"We got you, amado." Lito's low words were whispered, soothing and low, into his ear. Will wasn't strong enough to hold back his soft moan of pleasure at the massage the man was giving him.

He would've laughed had he had the energy. He's always so seductive.

Lito chuckled as Will leaned back into him, and he heard the rest of his cluster laugh as well.

The train finally slid into sight. As soon as the doors glided open, Nomi and Kala pulled him through the entrance and down onto a seat. Riley cuddled up next to him this time, and he gladly buried his face in between her neck and shoulder, inhaling her scent. He knew Sun took the seat on his other side, reassuring him with her calm, strong presence.

"Miss you," he said into Riley's neck, gripping her arm. He wished he could hold her for real.

She brushed her lips against his, lingering for just a second before she kissed his jaw. "I know. I'll be back soon."

He must've dozed off, because before he knew it, Sun was nudging him awake and pulling him up by his hand, leading him off the train at his stop. They walked with him all the way to his apartment.

Will wasn't really an overtly emotional man. He dealt with traumatic circumstances more often than he'd like to, and if he cried over every upsetting thing that's happened to him since he joined the CPD, he'd constantly be sobbing his eyes out.

All that aside, he nearlybroke down in tears as soon as he caught sight of his apartment door.

He practically felt Wolfgang roll his eyes at him in jest.

Capheus unlocked the door and pulled him into his apartment, thwarting his attempt to head straight to his bed, guiding him to his bathroom instead.

"Capheus." He knew he was whining, but he didn't care. His eyes could barely blink open.

The man just gave him an apologetic squeeze to his shoulder, and then Kala was suddenly before him, holding a damp washcloth in her hands. She didn't waste time and cleaned off as much sweat, blood, and grime as she could without an actual shower.

Will didn't want to be upright with Kala though - he wanted to be on that bed, passed out for the next week.

"Kala," Will said, fully intending to tell her cleanliness was the least of his concerns, until Lito shushed him.

"We know, amado. She's almost done," he said. Capheus kept a firm hand around his bicep, preventing him from leaving.

Lito waited until Kala lowered the damp washcloth before he took Will's hand and tugged him into his bedroom, the rest of his cluster following.

The Mexican stripped Will down to his boxers, caressing his skin as went. He then lowered him onto the bed with a tender kiss to his temple.

He just barely felt Riley snuggling up against him before he was out.

#

Will not only remembered that long, taxing night, but the day after - yesterday - as well. His cluster had completely spoiled him as soon as he'd woken up.

Riley and Nomi had both cuddled him until he felt strong enough to crawl out of his bed to put his hoodie and sweats on. When he went to sit on his couch with a cup of coffee, Wolfgang and Sun visited him with cups of their own. Wolfgang had rested close and laid his legs over Will's, while Sun had crossed her legs and sat close enough to rest her shoulder against his.

After that, Capheus sat with him for a long time as he'd stared out the window, holding his ankle in a comforting grip. When the Kenyan left, Kala came to read him news - only uplifting stories - letting his head fall into her lap as she read.

It wasn't until Lito had visited him after Kala left that Will realized, with shock, that they were visiting him in shifts.

"Why?" he had asked, looking up at Lito from where he'd been curled back up next to the window.

Lito had cuddled close and kissed him, saying, "Because we love you."

It was a novel experience, being cared for. Being loved by so many. Protected, even. He was so used to being the protector, but now...

"But now you have us," Capheus said, interrupting his thoughts. "All of us."

Will blinked, his recent memories fading away as the man before him came back into focus. The dry, hot weather brought him back to the present.

"You always fight so hard for us, but now we can return the favor." Capheus smiled at him, affection clear in his eyes.

"We all love you," Riley said. Will turned to see his love by his side, and suddenly he was back in his apartment, joined by his whole cluster.

"The rest of us are no longer in danger," Kala said, "unless Wolfgang does something stupid to catch the wrong person's attention..."

Wolfgang rolled his eyes while the rest chuckled.

"But now you are regularly in danger," she continued, "and while most of your days aren't nearly as horrific as the one you had two nights ago, we want to take care of you on the days that are."

Will felt his throat close up as he realized the implication of her words. He gripped his coffee, feeling the heat it still gave off, in his hand.

They were really going to take care of him like that again if he needed them to.

Wolfgang snorted. "When you need us to. Knowing you, there'll most definitely be another time you'll stupidly run straight into a mass shooting."

Sun gazed at him, never wavering, and said, "We take care of each other. You are no exception."

Nomi grinned. "You'll just have to get used to it, Officer Gorski."

Will stared at them all, overwhelmed, until he finally just shook his head, sighed, and let his lips curl up into a smirk.

Damn, he loved them.

"We know," they all replied at once.

Will took another sip of his coffee, closed his eyes, and allowed his cluster to surround him with their love.


End file.
